Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-01-13
Law and Order.

Law and Order.
| Communicated.
History shows that from the earliest
period of time, up to the present,
whenever an emergency arose that de-
handed action, that emergency was at
once sought to be metand tine want
! supplied.
| When an evil arose among the pen
pie. or in a nation, a NEEDY was sought,
and the means devised. for the adolf
ton of the evil. -: :
Thus it was early in the history of
the world that laws began to be enact
Ell and promulgated. and penalties
attached for their violation. az
These, laws were either needed sor
violated, in proportion to.tte iirtnrfess
of the enacting or pron1u eating party.
These penalties were either. Inflicted
or ignored according tU the upright:
ness of the p'rsies empsowered;to exc
cute the laws and iuflltt the penalties
Thus when men in. authority Became
corrupt and pandered to the:passions
and vices prevalent among the people,
laws, however just and good, were
po~eriess for the purpose of their en-
aetment, and only when men nnirn-
peachable character and uprightness
of purpose we're made. the executors of
| the law, did the law serve the purpose
soiig ht. - - s. -
Thus it was said: lsWhen the just
reign. the wicked shall not G, nnpun-
ished," and .'When' the wicked bear
| rale the people mourn. -
1t is evident. that the usefulness of
Law must depend largely up)n,the de-
sire for good. and readiness to execute,
| Of THOSE whose duty 1t is to enforce the
laws. Hence, in government like
ours when the people, through their
representatives, enact their own laws,
and afterward by their own voice
select the persons to execute .taem,. ii
is very clearly the ,duty of tha. people
to see that none but men known to be
favorable to law and order, .shail: be
tappointed administrato OF. the.iaws. .
/ I, is an old acknowledged principle,
THAT ali laws as such, are justly tehtitl
Fed to lac respect and obedtense s0fev-
ery good citizen while they rettaim up
] ON the statute oooks, hewever objec-
tionable they may appear to the. indi-
Yidual. 1t should be remembered
that our lawstare the expressed viii Of
The people and should be strictly en-
forced for the public good. In the
ease of bad and .objectable. laws, the
more strictly: they are enforced, the
sooner eiIl-tkeir evils become apparent
and a remedy be found In their repeal
or amendment. -.
Our present Prohibitory Liqn6rLaw
is q case in point, aud maHy are che
fauft-finders with its provisions. : L
is claimed. by many..the law is q bad
one. That It falls short of the object
for which it was enacted. That as a
remedy for the crime of drunkenness
and debauchery' it:is'a failure. But
holdi rs that a true statement? Is the
law at fault, or is the fault in people
themselvesf Does. the law. augment
the evil it was designed to SUPPRESS, OF
is it the utter ignoring and fragrant
violation Of the law that canses the in:
crease of the evil-if there be an in
crease? Undoubtedly the latter.
/ That the Pfevaleuce- of evils arising
from the immoderase sales and use o.
intoxicating beverages, loudly calls
flor @ reform; and that drunkenness
i and its attedant evils demand thai
some steps be taken for their aWend
ment, on one will undertake to deny
j Even those who oppose prob bitior
!. I most violently be forced to eaeknowl
edge that the Incorporate use of. in
ttoxicauts is an evil that ought to b
remedied, and IT, ut the sale ofintoxi
eating liquors is traffic that dare no
be allo we'd openly. and without lega
restraint, as other lines of btisiness.ar'
conducted. :;
1t is also acknowledged on. all sides
that very little good, if any, but much
evil directly. results from, the traffic
and, therefore, all suhsSan tally agres
that it is wrong. Then We ask, why
, in the same of all that is gosd, and
pure and true, should it be iegalizet
, aud protected by granting license
either municipal. state or: NATIONAL
Why protect and foster- Y :las
business that everyone comedies to b
, wrong in itself? 49, n M
Il Tl: - -oa,& &J,s,s. bost. e